VALDEMAR
337
One day he knelt him gravely down
Beside the hearth-stone, rent and brown.
"And now, my patient wife," said he,
"What can be done with this, we'll see."
With straining arm and crimsoned face
He pried the mortar from its place,
Lifted the heavy stone aside,
And left a cavern yawning wide.
Oh, wondrous tale! At set of sun
The guerdon of his search was won;
And where his broken hearth-stone lav
He found at last the perfect clay!
Beside the hearth-stone, rent and brown.
"And now, my patient wife," said he,
"What can be done with this, we'll see."
With straining arm and crimsoned face
He pried the mortar from its place,
Lifted the heavy stone aside,
And left a cavern yawning wide.
Oh, wondrous tale! At set of sun
The guerdon of his search was won;
And where his broken hearth-stone lav
He found at last the perfect clay!
